May 6 - 12, 2023

 

To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.

Brain Teasers:

Complete the lyric: "She talks about a _____ without a ____."

No one filled in these gaps yet.

Complete the lyric: "He doesn't ____; doesn't ____ it."

No one filled in these gaps yet.

Complete the lyric: "Maybe his heart is ____. Maybe his life is ___."

No one filled in the gaps yet.

In which Western does Terence Hill pretend to hand over his pistol only to fire it upside down?

It is not MY NAME IS NOBODY or THEY CALL ME TRINITY. Do you know in what film this happened?

In what film did Raymond Lovelock play Henry Fonda's son?

Angel Rivera, George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was IL GRANDE ATTACCO, aka THE GREATEST BATTLE, aka BATTLE FORCE.

What film featured Raymond Lovelock's cinematic debut?

Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was SE SEI VIVO SPARA, aka DJANGO KILL! IF YOU LIVE SHOOT. Bertrand van Wonterghem pointed out that the IMDb says that Lovelock appeared in DARLING. 

And now for some new brain teasers:

Complete the lyric: "Maybe at the end of _____, I'm that ___."

In what Western does Thomas Hunter clobber an adversary with a frying pan?

In what sword and sandal film is Claudio Gora killed with molten gold?

Name the movies from which these images came.

No one identified the above frame grab.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Angel Rivera, George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Corinne Clery and Reb Brown in IL MONDO DI YOR, aka  YOR: THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one identified the above photo.

It is from BASTARD SWORDSMAN.

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I am interested in knowing what movies you have watched and what you enjoyed or not. So please send me an email at scinema@earthlink.net if you'd like to share. Here's what I watched last week:

Enjoyed:

Classic Albums "The Band" (1997)

MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND (2019) - Midge Costin assembled a plethora of clips to illustrate her documentary on the importance of sound in movies. She also gathered a pile of important talking heads including Walter Murch, Ben Burtt, Gary Rydstrom, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, Ryan Coogler, Christopher Nolan, Hans Zimmer, David Lynch, Ang Lee, Sofia Coppola and Peter Weir. Oddly, when the film discusses how Stereo replaced Mono in movies, it fails to mention Todd-AO sound and that with the creation of Cinemascope, 20th Century Fox made Stereo presentation normal. The first time I really experienced an "immersive" aural experience was seeing a 70mm presentation of CUSTER OF THE WEST where in you heard a bow snap in the back of the theater, heard the arrow zing through the auditorium to finally land in a white man's chest on the screen. That was in 1969 - years before Dolby Stereo came to be. Oddly, while much is made of how George Lucas changed the way movies sounded, there is no mention of the THX sound system.

Uncnsrd: "Meagan Good" (2023) - I became aware of Meagan Good because of the Minority Report TV series. She doesn't mention that show in her interview, but she talks about a very difficult working situation on a project that she wouldn't name which sounds like it could be Minority Report. She talks about how the situation ended up being resolved which is interesting.

Unsung presents Best In Black "Movies" (2023) - This celebrates BOYZ N THE HOOD, COOLEY HIGH, THE COLOR PURPLE (though there is no mention of it being directed by a white man - Steven Spielberg), MOONLIGHT, HOUSE PARTY, LOVE JONES, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (again there is no mention of the white director - Norman Jewison), SHAFT, WAITING TO EXHALE, THE BEST MAN, COMING TO AMERICA and GET OUT.

Mildly enjoyed:

FANTOMAS (1964) - In 1959, director Andre Hunebelle teamed with star Jean Marais to make four successful films. When DR. NO became a worldwide success, Marais suggested that a film series based on the Jean Bruce novels about secret agent OSS 117 would be a good idea. However, Marais didn't get the role in OSS 117 SE DECHAINE. But when Hunebelle decided to make a film based on the novels of Fantomas created by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre, he gave not only the role of the master criminal to Marais, but also the role of Jerome Fandor, the journalist and romantic hero of the story. Commissioner Juve became a comedic character, so Hunebelle got Louis de Funes, with whom the director has previously made TAXI, ROULOTTE DE CORRIDA in 1958. Rounding out the cast was Mylene Demongeot as Helene and Marie-Helene Arnaud as Lady Beltham. This was the last of the five films Arnaud made. Marais, best known for his films with poet Jean Coctau, was in his fifties when he made FANTOMAS, but that didn't stop him from turning in a very physical performance - even climbing up a ladder dangling from the side of a moving helicoptor. The impressive stunt work also involved automobile stuff which was the first credited work by Remy Julienne. Julienne's work was so good, that he was soon employed by the producers of the James Bond films, as well as by many other filmmakers. The indelible image of Fantomas wearing a featureless blue mask was quite striking, and wasn't in the books. It was what excited me when I saw the posters. Being able to assume anyone's face and fingerprints was Fantomas' strength, so in this film he does that to discredit Fandor and Juve. To the credit of the filmmakers, when the villain assumes another's identity, they don't just get the other actor to impersonate himself - so the villain's body doesn't suddenly change with the disguise. When Marais as Fantomas becomes Fantomas as Fandor, Marais was made up to look like Marais wearing a false face. When Fantomas becomes Juve, he doesn't suddenly shrink to Louis de Funes' size - de Funes was made to look as tall as Marais and made up to look like de Funes wearing a false face. The film was very lively but only mildly amusing, no matter how attractive Mylene Demongeot was. The elevator in the villain's lair was also incredibly unconvincing, but that's nitpicking.

FANTOMAS SE DECHAINE, aka FANTOMAS UNCHAINED, aka FANTOMAS UNLEASHED, aka FANTOMAS STRIKES BACK (1965) - The second film in the Fantomas Trilogy by director Andre Hunebelle showed even more of an influence from the James Bond movies, but ended with a sky diving sequence which prefigured a similar bit in MOONRAKER. In addition to Fantomas and Fandor, Jean Marais also played Professor Lefevre, who was impersonated by both Fandor and Fantomas during the silly goings-on in this movie. The plotting for this sequel was even weaker than the first film, but it was obvious that the filmmakers realized that Louis de Funes was more popular with audiences and he was given more screentime than Marais, even while only playing a single character. Mylene Demongeot was as attractive as always, but had become a romantic object for the villain now that, we were told, Lady Beltham had died. Olivier de Funes was added to the cast as Helene's young brother, but wasn't given much to do aside from being someone that the villain could menace to get Helene to comply. At one point, Louis de Funes lectured his underlings about how everything was now about secret agents and gadgets. When Jacques Dynam as Bertrand asked "What's a gadget?", de Funes responded "Don't you watch movies?" Italian actors Pietro Tordi and Arturo Dominici made brief appearances at a scientific meeting in Rome.

FANTOMAS CONTRE SCOTLAND YARD, aka FANTOMAS VS. SCOTLAND YARD (1967) - This mess looks like they went into production without a completed script. There are many scenes that never come together to make a story. And the title is a lie - Scotland Yard is not Fantomas' adversary; it's the same trio of Fandor, Juve and Helene from the other films. The film is set in Scotland and there is one local inspector, but he's only there to irritate Juve. Director Andre Hunebelle seems to feel that having Louis de Funes run around exacerbated is entertaining enough to fill 90 some minutes. Jean Marais gets some time to show off some physical dexterity, but the tenuous logic of the first two films is almost completely dispensed with here. Once again the lesson to be learned is that if you have a gun on the master criminal - shoot him. Don't wait for someone to screw things up in what someone thinks is a funny way.

LOGAN (2017) - Director James Mangold seems to want the viewer to be reminded of SHANE, and I didn't much like SHANE either. I am so tired of movies about heroes on the run who stop running only to ensure that an innocent family gets killed. That's alright if the heroes are supposed to be blundering fools, but I don't think the filmmakers intended for us to think of Wolverine and Professor X that way. By the way, in SHANE the hero actually successfully protects the family. Some say that the film reminded them of THE COWBOYS, but it reminded me of MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME. And I didn't much like either of those films either. I did enjoy Dafne Keen, but I enjoy her more in His Dark Materials.

His Dark Materials season three (2022) - The story elements of this show are interesting, but they would have been better served not being stretched out over three seasons and 23 hours. Frequently I could be heard yelling "Get On With It" at the TV set. Still, I found the conclusion moving, but was relieved that it was all over. It is interesting how the concept of the "Multiverse" and the image of people turning into dust have become so prevalant in fantasy movies.

MATCHLESS (1967) - When I was eleven years old, I was a big fan of Spy movies and Henry Silva. Having seen the advance publicity for MATCHLESS, I was very excited to see the film. At the time, I found the movie so disappointing that I referred to it as "Matchless Crud". Seeing it now, after over 50 years, I feel a bit more charitable toward it though I still don't like it much. Partly that is because I love director Alberto Lattuada's next film - FRAULEIN DOKTOR, and MATCHLESS is more fun than the previous Dino de Laurentiis produced spy comedy SE TUTTE LE DONNE DEL MONDO... (OPERAZIONE PARADISO), aka KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE.

Did not enjoy:

CATTLE EMPIRE (1958) - Director Charles Marquis Warren will always be remembered for helping to turn Gunsmoke from a radio series into a TV series. Having done that, he went back to feature films. This film begins with Joel McCrea at the mercy of the townspeople of Hamilton, who want to drag him to death behind an horse. Blind Don Haggerty, after whom the town is named, stops the abuse and takes McCrea to his ranch house to recover. Awakening, McCrea is unhappy to find out that his girl, Phyllis Coates, has married Haggerty while McCrea was rotting in prison for five years. The mystery, of course, is why was McCrea sent to prison. We soon learn the answer to the next question - why did McCrea return to a town that hates him so much? It turns out that Haggerty has put together an huge herd of cattle which has to get to the Army fort inorder to save Haggerty and the town from financial ruin. Haggerty sent for McCrea, even though he's responsible for the rancher being blind, because he's the only trail boss who could achieve such a drive at this time of the year. McCrea turns Haggerty down, and soon finds himself being propositioned by Haggerty's rival, Richard Shannon, to lead a second herd to the fort. McCrea ends up accepting both jobs, delaying Haggerty's start time by three days inorder for Shannon to get a good head start. Shannon's herd is to go to one river, while Haggerty's is to go to a river McCrea knows has dried up. This way, McCrea will get his revenge on the people of Hamilton, who blame him for a rampage of cowboys who busted up the town at the end of a drive. Of course, McCrea has a change of heart, and tells Shannon that both herds are going to the good water. Shannon figures a double cross, so he goes to the dried up water, and then sets about hiring gunmen to steal Haggerty's herd. McCrea leads the cowboys from Hamilton to thwart Shannon's attack after Haggerty confesses that he was the cause of the cowboy rampage that tore apart Hamilton five years ago. He had knocked McCrea unconscious so that McCrea couldn't control his cowboys. Later, McCrea slugged him in reprisal, leading to his going blind. With lots of stock footage of cattle on the move, CATTLE EMPIRE proved to be a good test run for Charles Marquis Warren to help create the Rawhide TV series, with which he populated with some of the actors from the feature film: Paul Brinegar, Steve Raines, Rocky Shahan and Charles H. Gray. Gloria Talbott fans should note that she plays Paul Brinegar's granddaughter, who joins the trail drive hoping for a romance with McCrea. In the end, he tells her that he may return after she growed up some more.

MYSTERY MEN (1999) - This may be based on a Dark Horse comicbook, but it plays like an overlong and unfunny Saturday Night Live sketch. Taking visual cues from director Tim Burton's BATMAN, the film looks darkly gothic with a city that has zeppelins flying overhead. Wanabee superheroes Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria and William H. Macy try to stop the robbery at a senior citizen party, but fail. Champion City's superhero Captain Amazing, played by Greg Kinnear, arrives to save the day causing our heroes embarrassment. Amazing's P.R. man Ricky Jay tells Kinnear that he is losing sponsors because he has already rid the city of all its supervillains, so Kinnear decides to convince the parole board to release Casanova Frankenstein, played by Geoffrey Rush. Unfortunately, Rush traps Kinnear and plans to kill him with a ray that will also destroy Champion City. The wannabees know they aren't good enough to take on Rush, so they try recruiting other wannabees, and take Janeane Garofalo, Kel Mitchell and Paul Reubens. Luckily, Wes Studi shows up to teach them how to work together as a team and Tom Waits equips them with weapons. Lena Olin is criminally underused as one of Rush's followers. This was the feature film debut of award-winning commercial director Kinka Usher, who seems to love shoving wide-angle cameras under the chins of his actors. Thankfully, he went back to making commercials after this film flopped.

MY UNCLE JOHN IS A ZOMBIE (2016) - John Russo was one of the creators of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD back in 1968. Like most everyone connected to that worldwide hit, Russo made no money from its success and has been trying to figure out a way to capitalize on it ever since. Unlike director George A. Romero, who was able to get work in the professional movie industry, Russo continued to ply his trade in the semi-professional world - even after adding an "A" to his name. Here he took the idea that a living dead man, hidden away by his relatives from those who would destroy him,  would, over the decades, recover his mental faculties to become a functioning human being - though still technically dead. The resulting film was mostly a series of comedic sketches in which "Uncle John" becomes a media celebrity and a pitchman for the products that keep him functioning. Those who thought that NIGHT bordered on being amateurish would feel vindicated by the incredibly sloppy work Russo has put his name on since. A cameo by Lloyd Kaufman and his Troma stars looks like something shot in a spare room at a fan convention - though an establishing exterior shot of the Troma studio suggests that the production actually went there. In order to have a plot, Russo introduced gangster Chuck Corby, who set up an illegal hunting preserve where members can shoot "zombies" to their hearts' content. These guys decided that "Uncle John" would be a prize trophy and so set out to kidnap him. Russo not only wrote and co-directed this production, he also starred as "Uncle John", which probably kept the budget low. This production does get some respect for faithfully recreating the opening shots of NIGHT at the Evans City Cemetery in Pennsylvania, where the original film was made.

X-MEN APOCALYPSE (2016) - Watching all of the X-MEN movies made by 20th Century Fox one after the other is irritating. No one is concerned with continuity and here we get the 3rd version of Wolverine's origin. Seeing Magneto have another crisis of conscience is maddening. Not being completely informed of comic book information, it is bewildering trying to match various characters to the different actors that played the same role in other films. I guess Quicksilver here is not the Quicksilver in the MCU because he belongs to the X-Men rights, while the Scarlett Witch was part of The Avengers rights. Will the MCU introduce the X-Men in a new iteration that makes sense?

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Charles Gilbert Watched:

ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) Anne Baxter is Eve but Bette Davis is headlined.as a Broadway actress in her twilight years reluctant to groom her understudy. I hadn't realized she was that attractive.  Hall of mirrors in the end like in CONAN THE DESTROYER,  ENTER THE DRAGON,, and DEVIL OF THE DESERT AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES. She later married costar Gary Merrill. Marilyn Monroe's early appearance.

BRIDE OF THE MONSTER (1955) Colorized Ed Wood flop. Sinister Dr. Vornoff (Bela Lugosi,) keeps an octopus in the marsh near his lab that has killed several residents. His brute assistant Lobo (Tor Johnson) subdues a female news reporter (Dolores Fuller) snooping around the premises. She becomes subject of experimentation until Lobo turns on Vornoff and operates the whiz machine turning Vornoff into a super human. Until the octopus gets him. Corny.

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David Deal Enjoyed:

SERENA (62) - It seems someone killed the estranged wife of artist Emrys Jones, and it looks like one of his models is to blame. Fun, twisty British mystery keeps the viewer guessing. Features Honor Blackman.

THE BLACK COBRA (63)

ORGASMO (69)

SERPENT OF THE NILE (53) - Rhonda Fleming is Cleopatra, Raymond Burr is Marc Antony, and William Lundigan is Lucilius in William Castle's melodramatic take on the famous tale. Fleming is resplendent in her numerous costumes, Burr is very good as the conflicted Antony, but Lundigan seems out place speaking the profundities littered throughout the script. Castle makes good use of his limited budget; the sets from Salome were reused.

ONE HUNDRED CRIES OF TERROR (65)

SOLARIS (72) - Can't let this one go by without saying something. It's been 20 years, almost to the day, since I've seen this classic and it is still riveting, mysterious, and deceptively simple. Tarkovsky's answer to 2001 is more akin to Kubrick's opus than antithesis.

THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK (41)

WHITE SAVAGE (43) - Shark hunter Jon Hall wants fishing rights in an area controlled by beautiful princess Maria Montez. Thomas Gomez wants Maria too which causes complications. Another hugely enjoyable exotic adventure featuring "The King and Queen of Technicolor," this one set in the south seas.

THE BRAIN (62)

Mildly Enjoyed

SECRETS OF THE FRENCH POLICE (32) - The French police - in the person of Ralph Morgan - investigate a plot to pass off a local flower girl as the famous Princess Anastasia who supposedly escaped the the guns of the Bolsheviks when the Czar of Russia and his family were killed. Inspired by the true events, this procedural from RKO has a lot going on (including horror and s/f elements) and it is orchestrated quite well for the most part.

SECRETS OF THE UNDERGROUND (42) - John Hubbard, the Assistant District Attorney, is assigned to meet the daughter of a French artist and reunite her with her father. When the artist turns up dead, a Nazi plot is exposed. Virginia Grey is the love interest and feisty reporter who wants the story. Ordinary wartime programmer.

SHERLOCK HOLMES (32) - Sherlock (Clive Owen) vs Moriarity. This passing acquaintance with Holmesian lore is adequate entertainment. A few visual flourishes keep things interesting.

SILVER BULLET (42) - Johnny Mack Brown roams the west with a silver bullet dug out of his back, put there by the man who killed his dad, and Johnny aims to find him. When he gets mixed up in the local politics of a small town, Johnny finds the man and settles things. Series western from Joseph H Lewis (The Big Combo) is a cut above the usual oater antics of the period.

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Angel Rivera Enjoyed:

"The Neighborhood" Season 5, episode 19

"Lopez vs. Lopez" Season 1, episode 21

"The Connors" Season 5, episode 22

"Young Sheldon" Season 6, episode 19

"Station 19" Season 6, episode 16

"Grey's Anatomy" Season 19, episode 17

"The Right Stuff" (1983)  I read the book the before I originally saw the film in theaters. The book explains what having the "right stuff" means. Its being the best at what you do. The movie goes over the first US astronauts, "the Mercury 7". In the book (more than in the film) the pilots who volunteer to be ' "astronauts" are the best pilots because they spend hours logging time in the air. Because they are flying so many hours they become more proficient at what they do. Thus the bottom line is "practice makes perfect." The film also has some fine performances. And the effects of views of high altitudes and space flights are impressive.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

The hard ride (1970, Burt Topper)

Gokushufudo / The way of the househusband – season 1 (2020) – episode 6

Yu ci xiao wu zuo / The imperial coroner (2021) – episodes 1 & 2

The English – season 1 – episode 2

La mort d’un tueur (1964, Robert Hossein)

Dungeons and dragons: honor among thieves (2022, John Francis Daley & Jonathan Glodstein)

Mildly enjoyed

Inside n° 9 – season 6 – episode 2

Young Jesse James (1960, William F. Claxton)

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Kanketsu-hen - Saigo no Rensei / Full metal alchemist: the final alchemy (2022, Fumihiko Sori)

Did not enjoy:

Three thousand years of longing (2022, George Miller)

Viaje fantastico en globo (1975, Rene Cardona Jr)

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